Richie's getting band back together

ST JOHN'S, Antigua -- Grammy award-winning pop singer Lionel Richie said Saturday that he and the Commodores will reunite soon for a tour.

Richie said a reunion could happen in the next two years.

"We better do it now, or in the next 10 years nobody would care," he told reporters before singing at Antigua's Romantic Rhythms festival.

Richie, 58, said it was important for the group to get together before it loses more band members. Lead guitarist Milan Williams died two years ago.

Ritchie was confident that synergy still existed between band members. He said Commodores' bass player Ronald La Pread joined him on stage during his last tour and played some of the group's old hits.

The Commodores were known for hits like "Three Times a Lady" and "Brick House."

Richie broke away from the Commodores in the late 1970s and topped the charts in the 1980s with songs like "Endless Love" and "Say You, Say Me."